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| By Brad Cook Dungeons & Dragons single handedly created the role-playing genre. And now MacSoft’s Neverwinter Nights comes the closest to replicating the classic pen-and-paper experience on your computer display. Featuring the 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, Neverwinter Nights offers both a massive single-player campaign that should take over 60 hours to complete and a multi-player function in which you can guide your friends through original adventures as the Dungeon Master (DM) or join one of the many games being played on the Internet right now. |
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 Friend or Foe? Some dragons, like this silver one we encountered during an online game, are helpful. |
As in the Baldur’s Gate games, the story in Neverwinter Nights takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a world well-known to many D&D fans. Once you create your character, you enter the city of Neverwinter, where a plague called the Wailing Death has brought much misery to the people. Your task is to help find a cure and restore order to the city, but not before embarking on many sub-quests and eventually venturing outside Neverwinter to explore the wilderness beyond. And what would a D&D game be without a dragon or two to slay?
And Stay Down! Master a wide variety of medieval weapons, including this very effective mace.
Let the Computer Do the Work
Whether you prefer to play in single- or multi-player mode, Neverwinter Nights adheres to 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. While the rules can be complex, it’s possible to jump right into the game without knowing many of them: the game walks you through the process of creating a character, and you can click the “Recommended” button to have it make choices for you — such as what ability scores to increase or what skills to learn — when your character reaches a new level. The intuitive interface also allows you to easily control your character and issue commands.
Trent Oster, the game’s project director at developer BioWare, points out that having the computer handle many manual tasks helps streamline the gameplay despite the complexity of the rules. “When you play pen-and-paper D&D,” he says, “one combat can take an hour. In Neverwinter Nights, it can pass in 30 seconds.”
He adds: “The other major difference lies in the handling of numbers. The computer performs all the dice rolling and calculations, so you only control the actions your character performs.”
Monster Mash. Something strange is going on in the woods.
For example, you can have your character search for traps as she moves through a dungeon. In pen-and-paper D&D, you would have to roll the dice over and over to see if you detect anything; in Neverwinter Nights, the computer simulates those dice throws and alerts you if you’re successful by highlighting traps in red.
Shoot the Breeze While Saving the World
While the single-player game offers a robust experience full of non-player characters (NPCs) to talk to, henchmen to hire, monsters to fight, and mysteries to solve, Neverwinter Nights becomes much more like pen-and-paper D&D in multi-player mode. Traditionally, D&D has been about getting together with a bunch of friends, selecting someone to take on the role of DM (usually over several game sessions), and having fun while playing.
The game’s DM client allows you to guide up to 64 other players through an adventure over a LAN or the Internet. As they explore the environment, you can set traps for them, place monsters, take control of NPCs, and more, just like a DM would in a pen-and-paper session.
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And, of course, you can use the chat function to truly role-play your character, creating a voice for her and speaking to other characters in a consistent manner. Or you can chat about current events, something that happens in most pen-and-paper sessions anyway.
One Habit of Highly Effective RPG Players. Talk to as many NPCs as you can to learn crucial information.
If you’d prefer to let someone else be the Dungeon Master, you can check out a list of servers and join a game session in progress, or make plans to get together with friends online. Brent Knowles, co-lead designer of the game at BioWare, points out that “Neverwinter Nights really lets you experience that feeling of being with a group of friends. You’re running around hacking baddies and saving the world from certain disaster while you get to chat with your friends.
“In addition,” he adds, “a group can come up with clever — and often hilarious — ways around difficult scenarios that are simply not possible when journeying alone.”
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch… Leave the city and discover who lives in the wilderness beyond.
An Amazing Platform
Many who are familiar with pen-and-paper D&D also know that modules, or pre-created adventures that you can buy, are a major part of the game. BioWare has a page devoted to modules you can download (for free, of course) and play by yourself or with friends. They range from the silly (the mock chess game Chicguins, which pits chickens against penguins) to the epic (Witch’s Wake, which is a series of story-intensive modules).
“Neverwinter Nights is an amazing platform for long-term D&D adventures,” says Oster, “and the number of community-created modules is truly amazing.”
If you liked this game, check out:
Dungeon Siege EverQuest Icewind Dale Lineage|
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